David,
Your many comments on this thread (not just the one below) give me the impression that you
suffer some basic misconceptions regarding HTML and HTTP. Please forgive me if my
explanation is too basic, since I am sure that you know most of this.
Web browsers do not send data to servers by way of HTML. They generally do it via HTTP or
FTP or SMTP.
Of course, but the expression of the request on those pages generated by Zope is an HTML form.
That is what I'm talking about. It is part of the HTML specification on the W3C.
Web servers communicate with web browsers and other client agents via the HTTP protocol.See above.
HTTPS is HTTP plus SSL encryption. That communication has nothing specifically to do with
HTML. HTTP can be used to communicate any kind of digital content in either direction.
HTTP is not the only protocol used by browsers. FTP is a common alternate protocol and
others are possible with scripting or help from an applet or plugin.
Of course, but ftp is almost non-existent these days as a communication protocol because of its security problems.
It isn't used they way it used to be.
HTML is a document format that includes, among other things, a representation of
hyperlinks based on URL's and a representation of input forms that can be used to upload
virtually any kind of data. HTML is not the only content-type handled by browsers.
Plain-text, XML, JPEG, GIF, PNG, CSS, and Javascript are the most basic and commonly used.
Certainly, but javascript is only used for communication within a browser, for example. Dcouments
can have almost anything in them. But this isn't what is used in the API. Basically there
is a simple request/response in http and the various parameters are used to convey what can be done.
The structure of the html in the page is used to marshall the various arguments passed in an out
through the various parameters.
Also, Javascript can be used in a browser to send and receive data at any time without
direct representation in the user interface. Furthermore, the user interface for browser
based applications can be directly manipulated via Javascript without the use of HTML.
Of course. That is not what I'm talking about. Javascript typically enables one to
effectively have dynamic html. It makes things easier to manage in the browser (hopefully).
Dave
David Forslund wrote: >> > What kind of arguments do the methods take. What about security? >> >>Whatever can be uploaded via http, https. Security is the same - can use >>username/password or PKI certificates. > >Basically then the client interface is the same as html, since that is the >only way to send data to the server through a browser.
--------------------------------------- Jim Self Chief Systems Developer and Manager VMTH Computer Services, UC Davis (http://www.vmth.ucdavis.edu/us/jaself)
